Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 551 - 534: Leading

After slaughtering the 1000th Great Innate, the fifth divine light lit up in the sky.

The Soul Shield was activated.

Amidst the killing spree, Zhou Leng suddenly felt a newfound protective power deep within his heart.

Killing ordinary Skinners brought no change, but with each Great Innate he killed, that power slightly increased.

"Then let the slaughter bloom..."

In the dimly lit Skinners’ Forest, Zhou Leng ceaselessly reaped the lives of the Skinners.

"1109."

Zhou Leng glanced at the corpses littering the ground and continued forward.

He walked for a long time, but no more Skinners followed the light to approach him.

The Skinners’ Forest was as silent as a giant coffin.

Zhou Leng turned off the Demon Spirit Artifact’s light, checked the map, and turned his horse towards the Stone Giants’ territory.

Upon encountering the first group of Stone Giants, he didn’t use weapons but charged straight at them.

Gathering his Celestial Tide Palm, he leaped high and struck at the giant fist of the Stone Giant.

The Palm Power of Shock and Collapse spiraled invisibly through his arm into the Stone Giant’s body.

Punch met palm, and Zhou Leng sidestepped, rushing to the next Stone Giant.

The Stone Giant, composed entirely of rock, looked at Zhou Leng’s back in confusion.

Why didn’t he continue fighting?

The next moment, a crackling sound echoed all over its body.

It looked down, seeing large cracks spreading across its limbs and body, then shattered into hundreds of pieces, falling to the ground.

Its consciousness descended back to the earth with the falling stones.

"1200..."

"1300..."

"1400..."

Zhou Leng traversed the Stone Giants’ territory like a lone general in a foreign land, hunting his prey.

Until he encountered a Grandmaster Stone Giant.

Facing a Stone-man over ten meters tall, Zhou Leng took a deep breath and charged forward.

What of the Grandmaster!

I, Zhou Leng, am Innate and fear no Grandmaster!

The Grandmaster Stone Giant’s fist came crashing down, enveloped in an unusual Earth Elemental power, resembling a massive shield, smashing toward him.

Zhou Leng, unafraid, executed the Celestial Tide Palm, unleashing the killing move, Ocean Surge, ferociously forward.

All his power erupted, Giant Body, Fierce Beast Power Marvelous Body, Giant Dragon Blood Marvelous Body...

Two supersonic arms collided.

Boom!

Zhou Leng was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing to the ground, bouncing back, and after several somersaults, finally stopped on the ground.

The Grandmaster Stone Giant looked at its fist, missing a few rock fragments, tilted its head in thought, then steadily stepped forward.

Zhou Leng lay on the ground, staring up at the sky.

Is the Grandmaster really this strong?

He struggled up, looked at his right arm, swollen twice its size, dark purple, hideous and terrifying, almost like an advertisement for a remedy.

The only good news was that the months of bone training had not been in vain; just one slight crack appeared.

If it were before, his bones would have shattered to powder.

Seeing the Grandmaster Stone Giant striding towards him like a small mountain, Zhou Leng, rolled up like a carp, used Lightweight Skill to quickly escape.

You still have to give the Grandmaster face.

After running for a long time and looking back, the Stone Giant was slowly retreating.

Zhou Leng mounted the Hell Warhorse, taking medicine, using Qi Manipulation to heal, and reflecting on that punch.

An invincible momentum.

No tricks, no fancy moves, just pure Earth Elemental and physical strength.

It was a pure power disparity.

Zhou Leng thought countless strategies and ultimately shook his head.

Without a prolonged setup, it was impossible to overcome such an absolute power gap.

Marking the danger on the map, Zhou Leng turned toward the Toxic Marsh.

Since battling the Angel of Death at Huqiu Fortress, he paid special attention to honing his body’s poison resistance.

The Ancient River Sect did have poison skills, but after learning them, one would be a walking corpse, killing anyone who touched them.

Besides, there was only one way to enhance poison resistance.

Like the process of muscle building, constantly tearing and healing, repeatedly exposing oneself to toxic conditions to naturally develop resistance.

The Toxic Marsh was the ideal training ground.

Zhou Leng headed straight there.

At first, he only made slight contact with the toxic mist, never stepping into the water.

Even so, his whole body steamed, skin constantly broke, sneezing and sniffles ensued.

Thank goodness for the tempering received from the Angel of Death; otherwise, he would have been severely injured upon entry.

While honing his poison resistance, he hunted toxic demons.

As He Pengfei said, when the Divine Spirit opened one door, it closed another for toxic creatures.

The severe poison inside these creatures caused Zhou Leng frequent screams.

Yet Zhou Leng always managed to swiftly retaliate in vengeance amidst the screams.

After spending six hours, he left.

The demons here were too scattered, and many areas were too toxic, necessitating a change of location.

He continued his hunt guided by the map.

Soon, he reached the familiar place, the Land of Sleeplessness.

Riding the Hell Warhorse with the Dragon Bone lance in hand, Zhou Leng mowed through the Land of Sleeplessness like a harvester.

Soon after, the Undead Race faded into the shadows, impossible to find.

"What a pity..."

Zhou Leng rode straight towards the Dragon’s Path.

Upon reflection, the Dragon Blood Guard was still favorable.

Collect two hundred, then wait in place, with fifty batches killed, the trial would be nearly complete.

Passing through the Land of Sleeplessness, Zhou Leng reined in his Hell Warhorse.

The Dragon’s Path was gone.

Replacing it is the Blood Rainforest.

One of the most ferocious places, inhabited by numerous Grandmasters.

Without a word, he turned his horse and left.

Not far away, the sound of battle erupted.

Zhou Leng heard what sounded like human Martial Artists and went over to take a look. A group of monsters from the Great Battlefield had surrounded the Trial Takers of the Humanoid Alliance.

These people were the Trial Takers he had encountered earlier on the Dragon God’s Seal Path.

As soon as he got closer, he saw a ten-meter-tall giant monster charging at a Martial Artist. The Martial Artist was already injured and had no strength to evade, clearly about to die.

A beam of white light descended.

Swoosh.

It enveloped the person and disappeared.

The monster roared in anger and shouted erratically.

Zhou Leng was wondering what it was when he saw, a few kilometers away, a flash of light, and the person reappeared, looking visibly shaken.

"This is..." Zhou Leng gazed up at the sky above the Great Battlefield.

"Yah!"

The Hell Warhorse accelerated and charged forward.

Once close, Zhou Leng slashed with his saber in one hand and wielded his giant axe in the other, rushing into the enemy ranks like a whirlwind of blades, slashing rapidly.

The monsters had never encountered such a killing god before, and after holding out for a while, once their Great Innate leader was killed, they scattered in all directions.

"Thank you for your assistance!"

Everyone expressed their gratitude.

Zhou Leng conversed with them while walking towards the person in the distance.

They learned that none of them had passed the First Layer trial on the Dragon God’s Seal Path and were all expelled.

They had been hiding and fleeing, only to keep encountering large numbers of monsters, continually on the run.

Though the unknown divine light could save people, it couldn’t be triggered frequently; still, some people perished.

After meeting the person who had been saved by the Light of Redemption, they all rested, ate, and chatted casually. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

One person hesitantly said, "Zhou Leng, could you lead us..."

"Yes, indeed." Everyone pleaded eagerly.

"We won’t let you work for nothing; all the resources along the way will be yours, and when we return, each of us will owe you a great favor, vowing to assist you unto life or death."

"The difficulty of this trial has exceeded our expectations, we are struggling to cope."

"Normally, the Great Battlefield wouldn’t be like this, we don’t know what’s gotten into the monsters, it’s like they’ve gone crazy."

"Or perhaps the Great Battlefield has always been this dangerous, and we underestimated it."

"If you really don’t want to keep taking us along, at least get us to a large group."

People of various races looked eagerly at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng hesitated.

Not taking them along doesn’t seem right; after all, we’re allies against the Demon Alliance. In places like this, we should be helping each other.

But if I do take them, my own Triple Trial might fail.

Zhou Leng thought of Xu Ming.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Leng said, "I’m undergoing a trial, and taking you along could cause problems for myself."

Everyone held their breath.

Zhou Leng continued, "How about this: let’s compromise. Have a Demon Spirit Master provide me a means for long-distance transport, or say, both sides establish a vague position. I will proceed at my speed, and you will follow behind. Most monsters in my path will be slaughtered, ensuring your safety."

"Able to communicate over long distances, if you encounter danger, I can quickly return, killing monsters in the process, thus aiding my trial, a win-win solution."

"This way, you won’t delay me, and I can generally ensure your safety,"

Having no other choice, everyone immediately agreed.

Zhou Leng said, "By the way, I heard from the Celestial Bone Army that Trial Takers can’t keep running away; they need to keep fighting, or else they’ll be erased by the Divine Spirit’s power."

"Then... You only fight to the end, just leave some for us."

"No problem."

Then, Zhou Leng gave them a map of the next location and set off.

Zhou Leng moved ahead at high speed, while the others followed at a normal pace.

When Zhou Leng was fighting, they traveled.

Once Zhou Leng finished a fight, they arrived just in time to help collect the spoils of battle.

Zhou Leng noticed these people really were good helpers; he wouldn’t have the means to collect thousands of bodies’ worth of spoils little by little.

These spoils accumulated, and who knew if they might find treasures as precious as the Octagonal Bone Fragment.

As everyone collected the loot, Zhou Leng continued to seek out the next batch of monsters.

"1998, 1999, 2000..."

Upon killing the 2000th Great Innate monster, another divine light swept across the sky.

The flesh-and-blood dragon began.

After killing another Great Innate, Zhou Leng felt a slight itch on his left arm. A glimpse showed a faint red arc appearing there.

Not paying it much mind, after eliminating all of them, he noticed multiple arcs on his arm, resembling dragon scales attached to him.

He Pengfei had mentioned similar divine powers before.

Once the Great Battlefield ended, these powers would transform into bodily strength, as potent as top-grade Medicinal Fruits.

Zhou Leng continued to hunt, the squad behind him persisted in following.

When finally done with that area, they converged with each other.

A glance showed the number of people had increased from eleven to twenty-seven, with several more Trial Takers from different tribes.

Then someone handed over a Magic Spirit Bag, and Zhou Leng accepted it, gave it a quick look, and placed it in his space wooden box.

Not much, but selling it for five or six hundred million shouldn’t be a problem.

More people meant higher work efficiency, so Zhou Leng continued to rush to the next area.

After killing the four-thousandth Great Innate, the Grand Warriors began.

Above Zhou Leng’s head appeared a crown.

Above each of the best Trial Takers from every tribe, a brilliant crown appeared.

Zhou Leng paid it no mind and continued the hunt.

Three days later, Zhou Leng’s count of killed Great Innates reached six thousand.

The Path to Divinity opened.

No one knew the specifics.

The "Loot Collection Support Team" behind had expanded to 77 people, forming a new five-tribe joint squad.

They still followed Zhou Leng but began to hunt small squads of monsters.